Dual drive for trucks



1949. R. R. GENTRY DUAL DRIVE FOR TRUCKS Filed Dec. 3, 1945 INVENTOR RaZak fizi'iz BY Patented Aug. 2, 949 2 477325 qUNITED STATES ATENT OFFICEl by 17" Q .Q .l 25 Y i g DUAL naive FQR 'rnuoxs I also it. stonewall. I

Application December amea'serialNo. 632,483- lClaim. (ethane Thisinvention relates to a dual gdrivefor large These springs E3 carry anaxle casing 1 through vehicles such as trucks and vans which carry whichis mounted an auxiliary axle 8 and the axle heavy loads; Incertainloca'lities laws governing 8 carries-wheels 9, which may betermed auxiliary the loading of trucks are based upon the number wheelsand assist the wheels H] on the shaft of tires under a load and it istherefore oneobjeot to support the loaded-vehicle. All of the wheels ofthe invention to provide; atruck with extra are equipped with pneumatic.tires and itlwill thus wheels mounted back of the wheels customarily beseen that the vehicle .will be provided with provided for a truck of acertain size .andthus extra tires and a greater load may be transportedprovide the truck with extraywheels and allow in the vehicle than wouldbe the case if thevehicle the truck to, be used for hauling loadsheavier were only-p ded with the wheels l0.

th originally estimated for when building t e The vehicle isprovidedwith the usual main truck. drive shaft H by means ofwhich rotarymotion Another object of the invention is to provide a is transmitted fm the pow r plant to the rear truck with extra wheels carried by an axleaxle 2 and this shaft is connected with a short mounted rearwardly ofthe axle usually provided st b Shaft H y a universal Coupling Of 0011-and driven from the main drive shaft of the truck ventionel t t o The sa l2 p s s by special shafts and gearing. through an opening I4 formedin a pocket l5 of Another object of the invention is to provide a aplate constituting a fr Wa l or closu e truck with extra wheels havingthe axle carrying for a housing Casing l7 and in Order to ota the samesupported by springs mounted upon side so ably mount the t b Sh t thereas b p bars of the chassis, rotary motion being trans- Vided a bearingIBlWhiCh fit to the Doc et A mitted to the axle of the extra wheels by ashaft y c p-Shaped head l9 at the inner end of having telescopingsections so that the extra axle the stub shaft is secured to a g 0 c dby may have vertical movement when traveling over the tapered front endportion of a short transmisrough roads without bending the said shaft.sion shaft 2| which extends rearwardly from the Another object of theinvention is to provide casing I! through a sleeve 22 and a rotatably animproved arrangement of gearing for transmounted bearin 23 in the S v hesle ve mitting rotary motion from the main drive shaft 22 fits into theneck 24 of the differential housing to the two axles and cause the twoaxles to rotate 25 of the axle casing 3 and carries a pinion 25 at thesame speed and in the same direction. 3 for meshing with the usualdifferential gears and Another object of the invention is to provide athe neck 24 and. the sleeve 23 are secured to the truck with extrawheels and power transmitting casing H by screws 21.

' mechanism for the axle carrying the same which A supplemental S t 8 so atab y mounted is of simple construction and not liable to be inatubularcasing 29 eXteIlding rearwardly from broken when subjected tojolts and strains. 115 the upper portion of the casing I! and this shaftThe invention is illustrated in the accompanyhas its forwa p r n e ndinhr gh the ing drawings wherein: casing and rotatably mounted by abearing 30 Fig. 1 is a sectional view taken longitudinally whi fi into at 3| rri y th f t wa of a truck provided with extra wheels and mechaitof the casing. A ar 32 S mounted 1111011 nism for transmitting rotarymotion to the axle the shaft 28 within the casing I! and t gear carryingthe extra wheels. meshes with an idler gear 33 which also meshes Fig. 2is a sectional view taken along the line with the gear 20 and causes thegear 32 and the 2-2 of Figure l. l shaft 28 to turn in the samedirection as the The truck which is of a conventional construcshaft 2|.The rear end of shaft 28 protrudes tion has the usual chassis bars I atits sides and from the casing 29 and is connected with the a rear axle 2in a casing 3 carried by the usual front end of a shaft 34 by auniversal coupling springs 4 which extend longitudinally of the 35. Theshaft 34 is adjustable longitudinally chassis bars and have their endssecured to the and consists of a hollow front section 36 and a chassisbars. The rear axle and its casing are solid rear section 31 which isslidably received disposed forwardly from the rear end of the in thefront section and at its rear end is conchassis and the springs 4 areconnected with the nected with the front end of a short transmissionchassis bars by the usual pins 5 and disposed in shaft 38 by a u s l C p39- The Shaft forwardly spaced relation to their rear ends to 38corresponds to the shaft 2| and is rotatably such an extent that springs6 may be mounted mounted in the neck 40 of the differential housingunder the chassis bars back of the springs 4. 4| of the axle casing'|,"the rear end of shaft 38 carrying a pinion 42 which meshes with thedifferential gear 43. By this arrangement the shafts 28 and 34 will beturned in the same direction and at the same speed as the shaft 2| andthe auxiliary axle 8 will be turned at the same speed as the axle 2.Therefore the wheels will all turn in the same direction and at the samespeed and since the wheels 9 and 10 are spaced from each otherlongitudinally of the chassis the weight of the load will be distributedover a larger area than would be the case if there were only one set ofrear Wheels. v

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is: 7

In a vehicle structure, a chassis, a main rear axle and its casing underthe chassis extending transversely thereof, springs suspending thecasing from the chassis, a drive shaft rotatably mounted longitudinallyof the chassis and disposed in front of the casing, a transmission shaftfor transmitting rotary motion from the drive shaft to the' axle, ahousing mounted at the front of the casing and enclosing thetransmission shaft, a gear on the front end of the transmission shaft;within the housing, a stub. shaft journaled through the front wall ofthe housing, said stub shaft having a head at its rear end secured tothe gear and. at. its front end being connected with the drive shaft bya universal joint, an idler gear in the housing meshing with the firstgear, a tube extending longitudinally of the chassis from the housingrearwardly' over the axle casing, a supplemental shaft rotatably mountedthrough said tube and having its front end extending into the housingand carrying a gear meshing with the idler gear, a longitudinallyextensible shaft extending longitudinally of the chassis back of thetube and having its front end connected with the supplemental shaft by auniversal joint, an auxiliary axle and its casing extending transverselyof the chassis back of the main axle and suspended from the: chassis bysprings, and a stub shaft rotatably mounted in the casing of theauxiliary axle longitudinally of the chassis and having its rear endgeared to the auxiliary axle and its front end connected with the rearend of the extensible shaft by a universal joint.

RALPH R. GENTRY.

REFERENCES CITED The following referenlces are of record in the file ofthis patent:

'UNI' STATES PATENT s Nmnber Name Date 1,627,303 Z'oelly s; May 3, 1921,729,896 Rebmane Oct. 1, 1929 1,780,599- Parlt'er Nov. 4, 19301,794,099 Alden- Feb. 24, 1931 1,896,664 De Wolfe Feb. '7, 1933 1.921276 Bryani.. Sept. 19, 1933 1,956,583 Morgan 1 1 May 1, 1934

